Street letter-box



(No Modell) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1-.

H. H. CUMMINGS.

STREET LETTER BOX.

No. 464,275. Patentgd Dec. 1,1891."

Emma Z C I x LETTESJ g Ffgl.

m: mums-Pains co., Moro-Llama, WASNINGYON n c (No Model.)

2 sheets-sheet 2. H. H. CUMMINGS.

. STREET LETTER BOX.

Nd. 464,275 Patented Dec. 1, 1891.

I WL'tI'LEEEE: Ric/VL- MAL, 4 Z 7042;

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIoE.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS, OF MALDEN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDNVARD B. MARSH, OF AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS.

STREET LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 464,275, dated December 1, 1891. Application filed December 3, 1890. Serial No. 373,393. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY I-I. CUMMINGS, of Malden, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification. Mail-boxes such as are now commonly used in the streets and in public buildings for the reception of letters are considered objectionable, 1n that the collector is obligedto handle the 1ettersthat is, he unlocks the box, takes the letters therefrom, and places them in his bag, an operation which not only takes the time of the collector, but exposes the letters to the risk of loss and of being tampered with by a dishonest collector.

My invention has for its object to provide a ma1l-box which shall obviate these objectlons, and by means of which, in conjunction with a bag of peculiar construction, the collector may collect the mail from the boxes wlthout handling it and without incurring the risk of exposing it to a dishonest collector;

and it consists of a'mail-box of the form and construction hereinafter described, and which 1s provided with a sliding bottom designed to be used in conjunction with a bag having a sliding top, the bottom of the box and the top of the bag being adapted to be opened only when the two are together by means of a key which will open both the bottom of the box and the top of the bag only when they are together, and the box being so arranged that the bag cannot be removed therefrom until the box is closed and locked, and so that the bag cannot be removed from the box until the top of the bag is closed and looked, all

as hereinafter more fully described, and the novel features of which are pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and made a part hereof.

In the drawings I have shown my device in the best form now known to me, and I will describe the same, having reference thereto.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved mail-box with the collectors bag attached and ready'for the insertion of the key, the bag being in the position shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section showing the bag hooked onto the rear edge of the box and about to be raised into position to open the box and the bag, the key being shown at the right. Fig. 3 is avertical transverse section of the lock with key in place and showing both the bag and box portions of the lock. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the key with the handle broken away. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through a portion of the sides of the box, showing a peep-hole. Fig. 6

is a top view of the box portion or member of the lock and showing'the retaining-bar over which the tumblers hook to lock the box.

A is a box which is provided with a covered opening at b for the insertion of the letters. This opening may be of any well-known form and may be covered by a hinged flap in the well -known manner. ,A receptacle 0, formed by partitioning off the top of the box and having a hinged coverB, is provided for the reception of newspapers and the like. Peep-holes 6, closed by glass, are provided in the corners of the box, in order that the collector may look into the inside of the box without opening it, so that in case there are no letters in the box he will be saved the time and trouble of opening the box.

To assist in seeing the contents of the box through the peep-holes I paint the inside of the box with phosphorescent or luminous paint, so that any object in the box will be plainly visible through the peep-hole.

The box is preferably made from sheet-steel, and at the bottom on the sides and back the metal is bent, as shown at f, to form a groove or recess inside the box for the reception of the sliding bottom g. At the front of the sliding bottom is a lock having a case h, which is secured to the sliding bottom 9. Secured to the side of the box and projecting over the lock is a fender j, which prevents the letters from lodging on the lock and thus being retained in the box when the bottom is opened.

A bar 70 of the shape shown, Fig. 6, is secured inside the box and passes across the lock in such position that the tumblersl, 5 which are pivoted within the lock-case, as shown, and which have hooked ends, may normally when the box is closed hook over the bar 70 and so prevent the bottom of the box from being drawn out and the box opened. too

The top of the mail-pouch is shown at M, and consists of a bag, of any suitable mate- Big 2,) so that the bag may be hooked onto the projection f at the rear of the bottom of the box. The frame at the top of the pouch M is grooved in a manner similar to the inside of the box for the reception of a sliding cover 19, and this cover is providcdwith a lock, as shown at r, similar in construction to the lock already described for the box and hav ing a similar retaining-bar a corresponding to the retaining-bar 7a in the box portion or member of the lock. At either side of the front of the pouch or bag are two upward-lyprojecting hooked arms g, which, when the bag is raised, stand in such position that when the bottom of the box is drawn out (in unison with the top of the bag, as hereinafter will appear) it passes under the said hooks, which thus serve to lock the box and bag together and make it impossible to separatethe bag from the box until the bag and box are again closed. The bottom of the box and top of the bag are drawn out together, and as they come out pass under the hooks on the projections q. For the purpose of unlocking the box and the bag a key a is provided, which has a series of movable wards b, which consist merely of small rectangular pieces of metal having a slotlengthwisethereof, through which a pin 0' in the head of the key (see Fig. 4) passes. An opening d is provided in that part of the sliding bottom g which forms a part of the lock-case for the reception of the upper ends of the movable pieces I) of the key,

Y and a corresponding opening 6 is provided in the top 10 of the bar for the reception of the other ends of the pieces b. Directly over and under these openings, respectively, are the pivoted tumblers Z and the fixed wards f of the lock members. The tumblers Z are pivoted to cross-rods g, set in the cases of the lock, and the fixed wards are rigidly secured to said cases or are integral therewith. The fixed wards f preferably alternate with the tumblers Z, and the tumblersl may be held in their normal locking position by the pressure of springs, as shown at h, Fig. 2. I do not deem these springs necessary in the box portion of the lock, as gravity will hold the tumblers in their normal position; but where the position of the lock is reversed, as in the bag, springs are desirable. As the tumblersl are of different widths and as the fixed wards may vary in length, it will be clear that by increasing the number of tumblers and wards and varging their relative widths and lengths Wi -13m number of combinations may be oblook, so as to free said tumbler from the retaining-bar, with which it is normally in contact, and thus by using a key with as many movable piecesb as there are fixed wards in both members of the lock the tumblers may be moved to their unlocking position and the box and bag opened. By this arrangement a simple and reliable compound lock is obtained, which cannot easily get out of order.

The operation of the device is as follows: The mail-collector, provided with the bag M and with a key, approaches the box, and if upon examination mail is discovered in the box he books the back of the bag onto the back of the box, places his key in the opening 6 of the bag-lock, raises the bag until the top of the bag is against the bottom'of the box, when the upper ends of the key-wards will be in the opening d of the box-lock and the pivoted tumblers Z of both members of the lock-that is, of the box-lock and of the bag.- lock-will be moved into theirunlocking position. He then draws the key toward him, sliding out the bottom of the box and the top of the bag underneath the hooks of the projections q until he can slide them out no farther, when the entire contents of the box will drop into this bag. He then slidesthe bottom of the box and the top of the bag. back, clos- I ing the box and bag, when the front of the bag will drop, allowing him to remove the key and to unhook the back of the bag, freeing it from the box.

It will be clear that what Ihave termed the bottom of the box and the top of the bag. are simply sliding covers for closing. the openings to the box and bag, respectively, and.that their positions at the bottom and top are not essential to my invention.

When the mail-collectors bag is. delivered at the post-office, the party authorized to open it is provided with a keysimilar to the key shown, but having rigid'wards b so set as to open the bag-lock; or a box-lock may be pro? vided,set in a board, so thatby the useof the collectors key the bag might be opened.

It will also be obvious that my-improvement may be applied to any form of'collectionbox.

and bag and is not necessarily limited to the collection of mail-matter. For example, .it may be used for collecting coin from machines, such as are commonly known as nickel-in-the-slot machines, or for collecting coins which are deposited in boxes in h0rse-cars and the like.

\Vhat I claim is 1. The combination of a mail-box havinga sliding bottom and a locking device for holding the same closed, and a bag having a sliding top and a locking device for holdingthe same closed, with a key to cooperate with both of the said locking devices, each of the locking devices acting through the key to unlock the other thereof, substantially as described. I

2. The combination, with a mail-'boxhaving a sliding bottom, of a baghaving means, as the hook f, for securing the bag to thebox, and having hooked projections q, under which the sliding bottom of the box passes when drawn out after the application of the mouth of the bag to the box, whereby the bag cannot be detached from the box while the bottom of the box is drawn out, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a mail-box'having a sliding bottom and a locking device forholding the same closed,with abag havinga sliding top and a locking device for holding the same closed, a key to co-operate with both of the said locking devices, each of the locking devices acting through the key to-unlock the other thereof, and means,- as the hooks f q, whereby the bag may be secured to the box and held thereto until the bottom of the box and top of the bag have been closed, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with amail-box having a sliding bottom, a bag having a sliding top, and a compound locking device comprising two parts or members, each member thereof having, a series of fixed Wards and a series of tumblers, of a key co-operating with such locking device, the fixed wards of one member being opposed to the tumblers of the other member and serving through the interposed key to position the latter tumblers to unlock the sliding bottom and top aforesaid, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a mail-box having a sliding bottom and a bag having a sliding top, of a locking device therefor comprising twomembers, one secured to the box and the other secured to the bag, each of said members comprising a series of fixed wards and of movable tumblers, thefix'ed Wards in one member co-operating to position the tumblers in the other member when the box or bag is unlocked, and ,a key having a number of pieces movable relatively to each other, each of said movable pieces being adapted to cooperate With a fixed Ward to position a tumbler when the lock is to be unlocked, substantially as shown and described.

6. A mail-box provided with one or more peep-holes and having its interior covered with a layer or coating of luminous material, for the purposes and substantially as shown and described.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS.

Witnesses: WM. A. MAoLEoD, EDWARD B. MARSH. 

